Wayne Rooney has named Luke Shaw as the player that Manchester United ‘can’t rely on’ heading into the new season during the first episode of his new Red Devils-centric podcast.
Man United were downed by former manager Ruben Amorim‘s AC Milan 4-2 in their final pre-season friendly ahead of the start of the new Premier League season.
Their opening clash against Hull on Saturday will mark the first competitive match of Michael Carrick‘s tenure as permanent manager, but before the first ball is kicked, Rooney and his co-host of Stick to United Mark Goldbridge aired their concerns about Shaw’s abilities – and whether the club might remedy issues in the transfer window.
‘I thought Luke Shaw was at fault for all four goals,’ YouTube star Goldbridge said. ‘Thought we had a terrible game and I don’t think he can play two games a week and then (Andrey) Santos goes off, you play (Youri) Tielemans and (Kobbie) Mainoo and there’s no legs and there’s no defensive capability.
‘I sort of think, if I’m Michael Carrick, I’m light at left back, I’m light in the midfield.’
Rooney conceded that Shaw ‘didn’t have the best game’, adding: ‘I thought he had a really good season last season, but he didn’t have the best game against AC Milan.
Wayne Rooney has suggested that Michael Carrick will not be able to ‘rely’ on Luke Shaw
The Man United veteran endured a tricky afternoon as the Premier League side lost to AC Milan
‘So, I don’t think you can rely on Luke Shaw to be consistent for the whole season.’
Instead, Rooney suggested that tempting Arsenal starlet Myles Lewis-Skelly to Old Trafford could provide a solution for Carrick.
‘I know we’re hearing that he’s available for not much money,’ Rooney continued. ‘I think it’s an absolute no-brainer.
‘I think if you can get a player who can play left back, he can play centre midfield. He’s young. He’s got a massive future ahead of him. I think that’s absolute no-brainer if you can bring him in.’
One situation which Lewis-Skelly would not be able to solve however would be Man United’s robustness in midfield, with Rooney concerned that the physicality of Carrick’s current crop could prove difficult.
‘I don’t know who this player is, but I’d like to see some physicality in the middle of the pitch,’ he continued. ‘A big box-to-box midfield player who can break up play, can drive with the ball, can see a pass, but ultimately he’s got to be in that middle of the pitch and you’ve got that physicality.
‘I think if you look at Tielemans, you look at Mainoo, you look at Santos, they’re all small lads, there’s not much pace among the three of them.’
Although Rooney was non-specific, he did suggest that Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana could be ‘that profile of player’ that Man United need.
Carrick himself called for more signings last week as he rallied for the ownership group to put his squad in the strongest possible position for the new season.
‘We want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that,’ Carrick said when asked about Man United’s plan for signing players ahead of the September 1 deadline. ‘Money’s money, I get that.
‘We feel like we have to be pushing for everything we’re involved in, while being realistic of what the recent history’s looked like over a period of time.
‘For now, we’ve got to make the most of it, but we’ve got to push every boundary we can to be able to win again, basically. That’s the challenge.’
